A construction worker fell to their death while working on a building in Tirana yesterday.
At around 4pm, the 56-year-old man slipped and fell, dying immediately.
2020 has seen at least seven construction workers die while they are at work. In January, three died in just one month. Then in June, a 17-year-old passed away after being hit by an excavator at work. The child was working illegally at the site, one of 50,000 Albanian minors who work informally to support their families.
In 2016, Ardit Gjoklaj, another 17-year-old boy died after being hit by an excavator while working at the Sharra landfill in Tirana. He was employed illegally and without social security by the private-public partnership promoted by Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj as an exemplary opportunity for work.
In 2019, a total of 34 workers were killed at work between January and November, 15 of which were construction workers. These figures make the construction industry the most dangerous for working. Some 1028 construction permits were issued in Tirana between 2017 and 2019 covering almost 3 million square metres. Concerns have been raised over the apparent construction boom and links to money laundering and other forms of corruption and illegality.
Also yesterday, a 35-year-old was killed in a factory in Kamza after he was caught in some machinery.
